Coal agitator



O. ARAM- COAL AGITATOR Filed May 10, 1925 lNVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 15, 1927.

UNITED STAT o'r'ro. F. PHILADELPHIA, PEmvsYrvAnIA, ASSIGNOR TO wns'rmenousn ELECTRIC-AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A

CORPORATION" OF PENNSYLVANIAL COLAIZ AGITATOR.

Application filed May L0;-

This invention relates to fuel-feeding mechanism for mechanical stokers, particu'. larly to agitators for fuel hoppers having a plurality of compartments or pockets: in the lower portion thereoffor'the delivery of fuel. to the furnace grate, and ithas' for oth ject to provide apparatus of the character designated which shal l ensure a uniform. delivery of fuel through the hopper and. es;-

pecially to provide a construction Wlllflll:

\ shall' prevent-any arching of the. fuel the hopper over the compartments by displacing atfrequen-t intervals the: fuel immediately above the upper" edge of the compartment.

Walls by means of a vplowingaction; of an oscillatory bars A. further object of my invention to provide a coal agitator of the character designated which shall be more rugged, less expensive to manufacture, and which may be operated with a lesser expenditure of energy than similar apparatusnow in commen use.

These and other objects, which aremore anifest. in the further description of. my

invention, may be attained by the employment of apparatus illustrated the accomauIyi-ng drawings. which: Fig. 1 a agmentary' view,. partially in plan" and partially transverse: section, of a hopper employed inconnection with an underfeed stoker and equipped with my improved coal agitator; 2; is a view in longitudinal sectionof theappaaatus illustrated in Fig. 1', Fig. 3- is; a. view of the apparatus in. end

elevation, the end of the hopper being removed and Figs. 4 and 5 are views showing details: of structure of the clamp.

Iii-has been heretofore-proposed in connection with coal. hoppers having a plurality of pockets in: the lower portion thereof to break down the arch. formations over the pockets by the employment of rods which are forced back and. forth. through the arch in a straight side-on horizontal movement either a. direction. longitudinally of or transverse of the hopper;

Theagitator of the present application distinguishes from these earlier devices in that deflector bars are oscillated within the hopper through. zones of retarded fuel movement the bars passing through the fuel obliquely with a glancing or deflecting stroke which acts progressively upon the fuel in zones of retarded fuel movement to deflect apertures 31.

1923. Serial 1m. 638,117..

the fuel away from: surfaces. which normally offer supports for arch. formation. The

arcuaite paths of travel combinedwith: the

Referring to thedrawings, I show at 10 a hopper having delivery pockets 11 in the lower portion thereof formed. by" inclined partition Walls 12- and ram housings 14.. Rams 15 are provided in the housing 14 and, reciprocated from a; shaft 16; through. cranks 1.? and connectingrods 18* The .shaft16- may be supported in any suitable. manner as by brackets 19 secured to the furnace front.

It is; tobe understood that the specific con.-

struction-al characteristics of the feeding mechanism above described form per seno part of the present: invention and. I herein set forth as illustrative of one of: several conventional arrangementstowhich my present. invention is applicable.

The agitator mechanism proper consists of a shaft- 22 extending longitudinally of and preferably supported by bearings 23. in the end. walls'of the: hopper. Asshown, the shaft is square in sections. Ferrules 24 fixed to the: shaft at: points of support serve to facilitate the rotary movement. thereof. Bars or rods 26 are securedto and supported from the shaft 22 so as to, rotate therewith, the bars preferably being of a U-shape and the bottom of the Ut-ba-r being substantially straight- It is desirable that the bars 26 should be so secured to the shaft 22 that the planes of the bars intersect the. shaft at oblique angles. Preferably, half ofv the bars make with the shaft an angle opposite in direction-from that of the other half, in order to equalize thrusts as will hereinafter pear. Any suitable means of securing the bars to the shaft may be employed; As shown, two cooperating clamp members28 and 29 having centrally disposed. obliquely extending notches 30,. designed to embrace the shaft 22,. receive the bar through apertures 31 adjacent the ends of the clamps. In assembling, the clamps 28 and 29 are placed in proper position on they shaft and the bar 26 with nuts 32 in place are inserted in the 7 Nuts: 33. are then drawn to hold the clamps securely to the shaft and the bars operative relation to the clamps.

The bars 26 should be mounted directly over the partitions dividing the lower portion of the hopper into delivery pockets. A bar may be placed over each partition if desired. It is generally suflicient, however to place a bar over alternate partitions, since an arch is eliminated by preventing the lodgment of the fuel at one sideof the entrance to the pocket.

The shaft 22 may be oscillated by means of a conventional driving mechanism. In the drawing, a disc 35 is mounted upon the main stoker shaft and carries a connecting pin 36 near its periphery, to which pin one end of a connecting rod 37 is secured. The other end of the connecting rod is secured to a crank arm 39 by means of a pin tO carried at the outer end of the crank arm. The crank arm is bifurcated at its inner end which is formed to fit over the agitator shaft 22 and to be secured thereto, as by means of a bolt 41.

The operation of my improved coal agitator is apparent from the above description.

In brief, the rotation of the stoker shaft 16 causes through disc 35, connecting rod 37 and crank arm 39 a continuous oscillation of the agitator shaft 22. The bars 26 which are secured to the shaft consequently swing in an arcuate path and act directly upon the fuel at different levels in the hopper. The bars approach the front and rear walls of the hopper at extreme positions of oscillation and at points somewhat above the upper edges of the partitions 12. As the bars approach the walls with an upwardly directed swing, they push aside the-lumps of coal between the bars and walls, and thus serve to loosen the fuel which has a tendency to back against the converging walls of the hopper at a point in its downward travel in advance of the pocket partitions. In their arcuate movements, the bars pass over the entire top surface of the partition walls 12 with only a slight clearance at the center position. The bar 26 is disposed at all times in a plane oblique to its path of travel and hence acts upon the fuel over the partition walls with aploughing or wed'ging action. The distance to which the fuel is laterally displaced is consequently not great, and the mechanical advantage gained by the application of forces from the bar to the fuel in this manner reduces to a minimum the energy necessary to operate theagitator.

While I have shown my embodiment in but one form, it will be obvious 'to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications, without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, thereore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is 1 In a feeding mechanism, a relatively long and narrow hopper, atransverse partition dividing the lower portion of the hopper into fuel-discharging compartments, a square shaft extending longitudinally of the hopper, a two-piece clamp provided with notches extending obliquely thereof engaging the shaft and forming therewith an oblique angle, and a U-bar secured at its ends to the ends of the clamp and arranged at an oblique angle to and cutting a vertical plane passing through the longitudinalcenter line of the partition, and means for oscillating the squared shaft.

2. In a feeding mechanism, a relatively long and narrow hopper, a transverse partition dividing the lower portion of the hopper into fuel-discharging compartments, a I

square shaft extending'longitudinally of the hopper, a two piece clamp engaging at its center the shaftiand forming therewith an oblique angle, and, a U-bar threaded at its end and secured to the ends of the clamp by nuts, the said nuts also serving to secure the clamp to the shaft, the said U-bar being arranged at an oblique angle to .and cutting a vertical plane passing through the longitudinal center line of the .partition,,and means for oscillating the squared shaft.

3. In a stoker feeding mechanism, a relatively long and narrow hopper, transverse partitions dividing the lower part of s'aid hopper intoa plurality of fuel discharging compartments, bars arranged to oscillate above the partitions, said bars being arranged at oblique angles to said partitions, the angles at which a portion of the bars are arranged, beingopposite to that of the remainder, and means for oscilllating said bars.

4:. In a stoker feeding mechanism, a relatively long and narrow hopper, transverse partitions dividing the lower part of said :1.

hopper into a plurality of fuel discharging compartments, bars arranged tooscillate above the partitions, said bars being arranged at oblique angles to said partitions, the angles at which half of the bars are arranged being opposite to that of the other half, and means for oscillating said bars.

5. In a stoker feedingmechanism, a relatively long and narrow hopper, transverse partitions dividing the; lower partofsaid hopper into a plurality of fuel discharging compartments, bars arranged to oscillate above the partitions, said bars being arranged at oblique angles to said partitions,

the angle at which alternate bars are ar-=' ranged being opposite, and means for oscillating said bars. c 1

6. In a hopper having a. plurality of valleys in its bottom leading to discharge openings, the combination therewith of bars arranged to oscillate to and fro above the crests between the valleys, said bars being so disposed that the horizontal projection thereof crosses at an oblique angle the longitudinal edge of the crest, the angle of alter- 5 nate bars being opposite.

7 In a hopper having a plurality of valleys in its bottom leading to discharge openings, the combination therewith of bars arranged to oscillate to and fro above the 10 crests between the valleys, said bars being OTTO ARAM. 

